Product Description

Illustrated with detailed artworks of vehicles and their markings, The Essential Vehicle Identification Guide: Waffen-SS Divisions, 1939-45 is the definitive study of the equipment and organization of Germany's elite Waffen-SS divisions during World War II.

Organized chronologically by division and formation date, the book describes in depth the various models of tank and other armored and soft vehicles in service with the 'fighting' SS, with listings of unit commanders, vehicle types and numbers, and unit structure. Each divisional section is further broken down by campaign, accompanied by orders of battle, a brief divisional history of the campaign, and any specific unit markings.

Every SS division that saw combat is featured, from well-known units such as the elite Das Reich and Wiking divisions, to lesser-known divisions, such as the 11th Waffen-SS Panzer Division Nordland and the Albanian-recruited 21st Waffen-SS Gebirgs-Division Skanderbeg.

With information boxes accompanying the full-color artworks, all drawn to the same scale for easy comparison, The Essential Vehicle Identification Guide: Waffen-SS Divisions, 1939-45 is a key reference guide for modelers and military history enthusiasts with an interest in the Waffen-SS divisions of World War II.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #244946 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781905704552
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

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Customer Reviews

Another Uneven Chris Bishop Mess
Two stars is generous enough here -- if pressed I might have given two and a half. I wanted to give this a better passing grade since I like the topic but as with all the other titles in this series, it is marred by inaccurate and incomplete factual content, poor photo choices, irrelevancies, erroneous captioning, and sloppy editing/proof reading.

As a series concept the "essential identification" guides were a good idea but very poorly executed. Many of the criticisms voiced by other reviewers regarding the Panzer, Panzergrenadier, U-Boat, and Luftwaffe titles are all valid and true regarding this title too.

It was aggravating too that the famous LSSAH Panther tank with the "Leaping Panther" insignia & call sign "R02" on the side skirt is depicted on the cover along with a number of other color profiles -- none of which actually appear inside the book. Also maddening was attributing obviously non-Waffen SS vehicles to specific Waffen SS units -- a particularly glaring misuse of such a vehicle profile was the well known one for Panther "01" with the Grossdeutschland helmet silhouette marking -- the same profile appears as a representative vehicle for 2nd SS Das Reich and also for 10th SS Frundsberg. This is pretty bad considering how many well documented photos of exact vehicles there are.

Another imperfect effort to add to the flood of poorly researched titles on the German armed forces of WW2.

A mess
This book isn't sure what it wants to be. It has a little on Waffen SS divisional history, a mix of German vehicles showing camoflouge patterns and a little about unit organization. Some pages just show a picture of the same six tanks and a note what size of a unit had six tanks which doesn't add anything to the book. It could have been a book on the SS divisions, vehicle camoflouge or unit organization but mixing these all together in small amounts makes for a disappointing book.

The non essential essential guide
I didn't mind the first volume on the Panzer Divisions of this 3 part set but by the time this one has come out I think they have run out of colour plates. This is meant to be a vehicle guide but there are only so many times I can see the same Flak or Pak gun reprinted and presented as belonging to different divisions. If you're a keen reader of German armour who'll easily pick up the many glaring mistakes such as the GD Panther 01 which is printed a number of times, the 251/9 1144 which was a 2SS vehicle presented belonging to more than one division. Surely they could have done more colour plates with vehicles from the more photograhped divisions. I appreciate it would be virtually impossible to get an accurate photo from each division but to just make it up seems a bit lazy. I've seen the same trucks, kubelwagens, Pak guns, bikes through the whole series and that's just either laziness or poor editing. I think I have seen the same 250/9 and 251/9 from 19 Panzer Division at Kursk printed at least half a dozen times through the whole series and that's bad. If these are your first books on german armour ok, but there are better ones out there and these will eventually end up in the bottom of your pile never to be read again. sorry Mr Bishop